I've made many of these little canons from old worn out rifle and pistol barrels seldom do I ever pack a wad with black powder and touch them off. Like I said before they are really just to sit on a shelf and be looked at ... I've been thinking about making a large smooth barrel replica to anchor into concrete in my front yard as yard art but I don't think I'll drill the fuse hole all the way through just so the police wont take issue ... on the otherhand it would be fun to take a working version out to the desert and throwing a few 6 pounders around ... uh ... maybe not.